San Francisco 49ers star running back Christian McCaffrey is already dealing with injury concerns, and it’s only August.
McCaffrey has missed two straight practices with what the team has labeled as “tightness”, although they have yet to identify what type of tightness. However, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan isn’t concerned one bit about McCaffrey’s injury.
“My concern would be him toughing through tightness, like a lot of people do, and then hurting something bad, and then pulling something, which then, it could be a month. That would be our concern, so once we hear him talking a certain way, Christian’s a guy who needs to get prepared for Week 1,” Shanahan said, via David Bonilla of 49ers Web Zone.
“But also, we’re pretty confident in what he’s done before, we’re confident in what he’s done these two weeks, and we just want to make sure we don’t make it something to be concerned about,” Shanahan added.
McCaffrey was listed as questionable ahead of the season opener in 2025, although he ended up playing all 17 regular-season games.
McCaffrey has dealt with plenty of injuries throughout his career, and he played 10 games combined in 2020 and 2021 with the Carolina Panthers due to injuries. He also played just four games in 2024 due to a string of injuries, so there is plenty of reason to be concerned about the oft-injured star running back.
Christian McCaffrey in 2024:
— Yahoo Fantasy Sports (@YahooFantasy) August 11, 2026
Placed on IR with "calf tightness" in Week 1, didn't return until Week 10
Christian McCaffrey in 2026:
Missed practice due to "tightness" pic.twitter.com/JGcHnBGP31
The good news is that there is about one month until the 49ers begin the regular season, so there is optimism that Christian McCaffrey can be ready for Week 1.
The 49ers face the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday, September 10, in the first-ever NFL game in Australia.
